Apparatus and method for accommodating loss of signal

• US 20040148555A1
• Filed: 01/24/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nytell Software LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Wegener Communications, Inc. (Wegener Corporation)
• Inventors: Tan, Weihong, Buggy, Robert, Osburn, Kenneth, Blackburn, Dennis
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,648 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/747
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/12 wherein another information is substituted for the portion of broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4425 Monitoring of client processing errors or hardware failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing

Abstract

A memory control system for a network that broadcasts to multiple terminals content data including music, video and the like, and also including commercial advertisements. A memory in the terminal unit stores content data that is played upon a loss of signal from the broadcast network. The memory also stores commercial advertisements for playback from the terminal memory according to schedule control instructions, which are also stored in a memory at the terminal unit. Writing of content to a memory and reading content from the memory may be executed concurrently by interleaving. A microprocessor arbitrates use of input, output and memory buffers such that reading content from memory provides content output maintaining uninterrupted real time play even when new content data is being stored concurrently. Content data memory addresses are stored in sector tables that are further arranged in File Allocation Tables in a second memory.

Claims

4. A method of playing content data from a network and from a terminal memory, said method comprising:

receiving current content data in a signal from a network;

playing said current content data upon receipt;

receiving storage content data with control instructions;

retaining said storage content data in a memory;

retaining said control instructions in a memory; and

upon a execution of a control instruction, playing said stored content data from said memory.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

upon a loss of signal, playing said stored content data from said memory;

seeking reacquisition of said signal from said network; and

upon reacquisition, again playing said current content data from said network.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said current content data and said stored content data are comprised of a first type of data and at least one other type of data.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said at least one second type of content data is information selected from the group consisting of:

advertisements, commercials, announcements, and promotions.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein said current content data is received over a first channel and said storage content data is received over a second channel.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said storage content data received over said second channel is played concurrently with said retaining of said storage content data.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein said network is a satellite broadcast.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein said storage content data is retained in a first memory and said control instructions are retained in a second memory.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein:

said step of retaining said storage content data in said memory is retaining new storage content data;

said step of playing said storage content data from said memory is playing old storage content data; and

said retaining of said new storage content data is interleaved with said step of playing said old storage content data from said memory.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of retaining said new storage content data is retention of one of a first type of content data or a second type of content data and said step of playing said old storage content data from said memory is playing of the other of said first type of content data or said second type of content data.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of retaining said new storage content data is interleaved with said step of playing said old storage content data from said memory and said interleaving is further comprised of;

reading at least one segment of said old storage content data from said memory to an input buffer alternatively with writing at least one segment of said new storage content data to said input buffer;

reading said at least one segment of said old storage content data from said input buffer to an output buffer alternatively with writing said at least one segment of said new storage content data from said input buffer to said output buffer; and

reading said at least one segment of said old storage content data from said output buffer to an output device alternatively with writing said at least one segment of said new storage content data from said output buffer to said memory.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said interleaving is further comprised of;

in each of said reading steps, reading at least two segments of said stored commercial content data alternatively with writing only one segment of said new commercial content data.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said interleaving is further comprised of;

in each of said reading steps and said writing steps, proceeding to the next step immediately upon completion of a step containing less data than a segment capacity.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein each of said segments is in a range between 500 and 8000 bytes of said storage content data.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein each of said reading steps and said writing steps are executed at a data transfer rate of substantially between 32,000 bytes per second and 128,000 bytes per second.

19. A memory control system for network distributed content data comprising:

a receiver/decoder for receiving and decoding a signal carrying content data and for outputting said content data;

a current play path for outputting current content data directly to a content output device;

a memory storage path directing content data to be stored through an input buffer and an output buffer and into a memory in response to an instruction to store; and

a memory read path directing stored content data from said memory to said input buffer and then to said output buffer and then to an output device, in response to an instruction to read said stored content data;

wherein concurrent use of said memory storage path creates no perceptible interruption in the use of said memory read path.

20. A memory control system for network distributed content data comprising:

an input buffer;

an output buffer;

a first memory storing content data;

a second memory for storing File Allocation Tables and control instructions; and

a read/write control data structure that interleaves

reading content data to be played from said first memory into said input buffer and out to said output buffer and from said output buffer to an output device, with

writing content data to be stored into said input buffer and to said output buffer and from said output buffer to said first memory,

so as to provide data output that maintains uninterrupted real time play.

21. The memory control system of claim 20 wherein said input buffer, said output buffer, and said control data structure are embodied in at least one integrated circuit selected from the group consisting of:

a Field Programmable Gate Array, a Configurable System on a Chip, a System on a Chip and an Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

22. The memory control system of claim 20 wherein said input buffer, said output buffer, and said control data structure, said first memory storing content data and said second memory are an option card adapted to operatively communicate with a receiver/decoder.

23. The memory control system of claim 22 further comprising a separate output from an output in said receiver/decoder.

24. The memory control system of claim 20 wherein said content data is music data encoded according to an MPEG protocol.

25. The memory control system of claim 20 wherein said content data is video data encoded according to an MPEG protocol.

26. The memory control system of claim 20 wherein said content data to be stored is periodically refreshed.

27. A memory control system for a broadcast content network receiver comprising:

a configurable system on a chip comprising;

an input buffer,

an output buffer,

a microprocessor;

a first flash memory;

a second flash memory;

said configurable system on a chip being configured to play current content data on a first channel and to monitor said play of said current content data for loss of signal;

said configurable system on a chip also being configured to receive on a second channel content data for storage, said first flash memory storing said content data for storage and said second flash memory storing address information for said content data for storage;

said configurable system on a chip also being configured to play said content data for storage from said first flash memory;

wherein said play and said storage of said content data for storage are interleavable in that said play and said storage may be executed concurrently such that stored content data output maintains uninterrupted real time play.

28. The memory control system of claim 27, wherein said content data for storage is back up content.

29. The memory control system of claim 27, wherein said content data for storage is commercial content data.

30. The memory control system of claim 27 wherein said content data for storage is played upon a loss of a signal carrying said current content data.

31. The memory control system of claim 27 further comprising a data structure for reacquiring said signal after said loss of signal.

32. The memory control system of claim 31 wherein said data structure for reacquiring said signal after said loss of signal tests an initial reacquisition of said signal for duration and error rate.

33. The memory control system of claim 27 further comprising a parallel/serial shift register for output.

34. A memory control method comprising:

storing content data in multiple sectors of a first memory;

writing addresses from said first memory into a second memory, said addresses corresponding to a location in said first memory for each of said multiple sectors of said content data, said writing of said addresses being in a sector table;

identifying each sector table with a header byte, said header byte indicating if the sector table is valid or invalid;

allocating each sector table to a memory location segment in a first File Allocation Table in said second memory, said File Allocation Table having a marker byte, and said marker byte indicating if said File Allocation Table is valid or invalid.

1. A method of maintaining a content data flow upon a loss of signal, said method comprising:

receiving current content data in a signal from a network;

playing said current content data upon receipt;

retaining a portion of said current content data as stored content data in a memory;

upon a loss of signal, playing said stored content data from said memory;

seeking reacquisition of said signal from said network; and

upon reacquisition, again playing said current content data from said network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said network is a satellite broadcast.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving control instructions for said storage content data;

retaining said control instructions in a memory;

upon a execution of a control instruction, playing said stored content data from said memory.

35. The memory control method of claim 34, comprising:

receiving a call up instruction for playing a particular portion of content data;

reading said first File Allocation Table marker byte;

if said marker byte is valid, reading one of said sector tables in said first File Allocation Table;

if said header byte of said sector table is valid and if said header byte identifies said one of said sector tables as corresponding to said particular portion of content data;

then

calling for play said multiple sectors from said first memory that correspond to said particular portion of content data.

36. The memory control method of claim 34, further comprising:

checking said File Allocation Table for invalid sector tables;

upon discovery of an invalid sector table, writing said sector tables that are valid according to said header bytes to a second File Allocation Table in said second memory; and

erasing said first File Allocation Table.

37. The memory control method of claim 36 wherein said method is executed periodically.

38. The memory control method of claim 36 wherein said method is executed in response to a discarding of any content data.

39. The memory control method of claim 34, wherein said invalid designation in said header byte is a designation selected from the group consisting of:

being blank, being written, being checked for errors and being discarded.

38-1. The memory control method of claim 34, wherein said invalid designation in said marker byte is a designation selected from the group consisting of:

being blank, being written, being checked for errors and being discarded.